eXoDOS v4

[eXo]

you can put the entire exodos folder on a different drive, and then use symlinks to make the computer treat it like a local directory.

[Drybonz]

1 hour ago, eXo said:

you can put the entire exodos folder on a different drive, and then use symlinks to make the computer treat it like a local directory.

Thanks for the reply.  It's on a local drive... just not the one where LB lives.  LB is on an SSD, ExoDos will only fit on the spinner.

[sketaful]

So I downloaded the eXoDOS 4 and moved all the files to the correct folders for Launchbox, but it doesn't seem like Leasure Suit Larry (any of them) exists.

I checked the folders and they're there in the games folder and in the dos! folder, but they're not added in the msdos.xml.
Have I missed something?

EDIT: Uhm ok. I am suppose to run the setup.bat right? Then merge the data-folder in eXoDOS with the data-folder in LaunchBox?
Anyway, that's what I did and the MSDOS.XML doesn't have the Leasure Suit Larry games. But, checking the xml-folder where there's also an MSDOS.XML file that one lists the Larry games. Should I have used that one instead? I feel I have missed something here.

EDIT 2: Ok. Fixed it. Seems like there is about 53 games missing in the data/Platforms/MSDOS.xml compared to the XML/MSDOS.xml.

Edited September 5, 2020 by sketaful

[eXo]

when you run setup it will ask you if you want adult games. 

 

If you say yes, you get the MS-DOS.XML file from the xml folder. If you say no, you get the DOSFAMILY.xml file renamed to MS-DOS.XML and copied over instead.

 

It sounds like your problem was you either didn't let setup finish or you tried doing stuff yourself before it had finished.

[sketaful]

Lol. I probably just chose to exclude adult games. Have no memory of seeing it. Sorry. Oh well. Solved it atleast.

 

Thanks for an amazing package. The amount of work needed to put it together is out of my scope to even imagine. 

It was enough work for me just to go through the list and see what I should keep on Launchbox. ?

[BobbyBadBoy]

OMG, Any chance this or something like this will be done for win95/98? A lot of these games are suprisingly tricky to get working on Win10. I think win95/98 is reaching that DOS-like "Elder" status. 

[dominikabra]

I still can't believe a project of this magnitude is going on. Major kudos to eXo and the brave ones who have stepped up to help!

I would also love to see a Win95/98 collection like this. eXoDOS + Win3xO + ¿Win9xO? would be total bliss.

[eXo]

I've spent a lot of time looking at a Win9x project. The primary difficulty right now is a portable solution that runs reliably. While it's possible to run 9x in dosbox or pcem, it is far from reliable when it comes to gaming.

Each game also needs to be set up in it's own virtual drive, as it makes no sense to have hundreds or thousands of games on the same virtual drive. To do that, the primary technical hurdles is the need for a:
1: parent\child relationship for the images (a base c:\ with win9x installed and child images that also load as a c drive, but only contains diffs)
2: dynamic resizing VHD's. Need to be able to set the VHD up with a max size, but only have it take up as much space on the disc as it contains.

Both of these technologies already exist, but are not integrated into dosbox or pcem yet.

[dominikabra]

I don't know if it's a complete nonsense, but what about some kind of ultra stripped down container solution (kubernetes or similar)? Being able to deploy games as containers could solve the relationship issue, and maybe even the VHD sizing problem. But hey, I'm no containers expert. 

I was thinking about setting my own collection up inside a Windows 98 VM with some dgVoodoo or similar wrapper that does 3Dfx and Direct3D. Don't even know if it would work, have never tried. Will check when there's enough free time (likely not anytime soon).

[eXo]

most of those solutions don't emulate sound or video cards very well, if at all (in my experience).

So you can get the game running, but no hardware acceleration, limited if any sound, limited if any networking, and usually the performance isn't great. Unless something has majorly changes since the last time I played with it.

Also, those solutions typically require client side software installed - so they aren't exactly portable solutions.

[dominikabra]

There has to be some caveat to a project of this magnitude. I would gladly install "some more rubbish" in my computer if that allowed me to have a ¿Win9xO? collection up and running. Being portable is really nice if possible, but life's far from perfect.

Sometimes the ideal can't be achieved and we have to settle for something less "perfect". 

Anyway, you're doing a truly INCREDIBLE job and I profoundly admire you for having started and brought it to maturity and the rest for helping make it even greater. You sir(s), are true gentlemen (madmen).

[eXo]

the portable part is important from a distribution objective. If I am going to have a torrent that requires client side software, then guess what happens? My entire discord and email turns into tech support central. 

I already get enough questions from people who can't be bothered to read the included readme or just download the entire package and run "setup". They go and download a single game file and wonder why it doesn't unpack itself and run.

I simply don't have the resources to support client side installs, nor is it good for preservation. As the software I rely on will eventuially stop running in windows. What if the thin client I rely on is dropped in windows 11? 12? Now I've spent years archiving things into software that is dead.

Dosbox isn't as big of a concern because there are so many forks and ports. I don't see it going away just because of base changes to the OS.

[dominikabra]

You've really given it a lot of thought, and that's even more #RESPECT worthy.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, was just trying to give some fresh and unbiased ideas. But it's obvious you've already been there.

On a side note, I don't know if there's anything that will be totally future proof. Everything is bound to become obsolete at some point and maybe we will be running DOSBOX inside a VM with Windows 10 in the future, who knows. I was suggesting the idea but wasn't aware of the "tech support" drawbacks you mentioned, so I guess, as always, there's a compromise to be achieved.

Last but not least, if you need any help at some point making a translation to Spanish, you can count on me. It's pretty clear the technical field of the project is way out of my league ?

[BobbyBadBoy]

One question, for some DOS Games the copy protection involved them asking a question and you had to know the answer as provided in the manual. I know that one of the goals of this Project to have all the manuals bundled, but is is possible to make some kind tiny script that can just punch in the answer. I'm not trying to like give anyone any extra work. I actually think this would be a nice tiny little idea for me to perhaps practice a little bit of scripting or learning more computer stuff.

I could maybe do it for a handful  of games, maybe just some kind of character count script that counts the characters on the dos box screen and deduces which question was asked and then just copies and pastes the answer from an index file.

I don't know any programing or anything, I'm just spitballing, I have done work in Microsoft Excel only lol. Does anyone think this would be a cool idea?

This would be cool for like RetroPie or something where like you don't necessarily wanna be plugging in a keyboard and a mouse repeatedly. 

Edited September 26, 2020 by BobbyBadBoy

[tycho]

23 minutes ago, BobbyBadBoy said:

One question, for some DOS Games the copy protection involved them asking a question and you had to know the answer as provided in the manual. I know that one of the goals of this Project to have all the manuals bundled, but is is possible to make some kind tiny script that can just punch in the answer. I'm not trying to like give anyone any extra work. I actually think this would be a nice tiny little idea for me to perhaps practice a little bit of scripting or learning more computer stuff.

I could maybe do it for a handful  of games, maybe just some kind of character count script that counts the characters on the dos box screen and deduces which question was asked and then just copies and pastes the answer from an index file.

I don't know any programing or anything, I'm just spitballing, I have done work in Microsoft Excel only lol. Does anyone think this would be a cool idea?

This would be cool for like RetroPie or something where like you don't necessarily wanna be plugging in a keyboard and a mouse repeatedly. 

All the games I've personally played from exo's pack were already cracked, or came with a crack. The games will then either skip the copy protection step, or are modified so that any input from the user "solves" the protection.

[BobbyBadBoy]

Interesting, maybe I wasn't doing something properly. I was "having trouble" with Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, but maybe I needed to apply the crack. Or maybe that one doesnt come cracked or something. Anyway, thanks for the response.

[Storm8873]

Thanks for your hard work!  Just starting to download this awesome collection for the first time.  I swear I caught my hard drive rolling it's eyes lol

[blackboxingcat]

Hi everyone

Thank you for your efforts on this project exo. Brings back alot of memories

I have downloaded the v4 and will seed for along time or let me know if their is other ways to help.

Now the big question.

Can some1 please send me to the right area on how to set this up with LB/BB from start to finish, as i dont want to start this with out a little know how.

Once again thanks heaps.

 

 

[BobbyBadBoy]

On 10/8/2020 at 12:55 PM, blackboxingcat said:

Hi everyone

Thank you for your efforts on this project exo. Brings back alot of memories

I have downloaded the v4 and will seed for along time or let me know if their is other ways to help.

Now the big question.

Can some1 please send me to the right area on how to set this up with LB/BB from start to finish, as i dont want to start this with out a little know how.

Once again thanks heaps.

 

 

Once you are done downloading exoDOS you just double click the "Setup.bat" file (or [whatever].bat file). ExoDOS v4 already comes with an old version of LaunchBox in it. and you just run it from the folder and thats it. When you launch it it will ask you if you want to update launchbox, I assume you just have to place your own "licence.xml" file into the folder so that "BigBox" works.

 

Now, if you are asking how to bring together the ExoDOS launchbox with whatever launchbox stuff you already have in your computer then I am not sure, I guess you just have to cut and paste the entire 400 GB of the exodos into whatever launchbox build you already have. However it seems that the exodos release is prepackaged in such a way that it operates by itself. 

Personally I am just leaving it as is. and just running it as a separate launchbox enviroment with its own game library. Because exodos v5 will come out and its gonna be easier to "update" it that way hopefully.

[Imgema]

I noticed some original releases of games are missing.

For instance, games like Tomb Raider and Magic Carpet don't exist in the pack. They are included in later released compilations like "Magic Carpet Gold" so the originals have been omitted.

Not sure if this is the best decision. At least for historical /archiving purposes, isn't it better for the original releases to be in the pack as well?